Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Did Berkeley Bowl Ban Reporter for Life?
Business / Food / Media Chris Thompson — Wed, Oct 1, 2008 at 10:18 AM
Los Angeles Times reporter John Glionna recently wrote a terrific piece on the tense, hyperkinetic, aggro atmosphere at the Berkeley Bowl. Shoppers ramming their cars into one another in a frenzied effort to get a parking space, customers barking at each other to get the hell out of the way, or scolding those who dare utter anything that could be interpreted as a sexist remark. It's a love song to the Bowl and the city that hosts it, with all its warts and charms and quirks on full display. But it looks like owner Glen Yasuda didn't care for the story; in a follow-up blog post, Gionna claims that Yasuda called him up and reamed him out about the piece. What's more, Yasuda banned Glionna from the store. For life.
What could have pissed Yasuda off so much? Apparently, he didn't appreciate Glionna writing that the store has a one-strike-you're-out policy on people who sample the food. One shopper told Glionna that after he snacked on two apricots, security guards stopped him in the parking lot, took his picture, made him sign a no-trespass agreement, and declared him persona non grata. "They treated me like a thief," he said.
Store manager Larry Evans seems to confirm the policy in the story: "There's a sense of entitlement to this town. ... People think, 'If I want to do it, I'll do it, just try and stop me.' " But now, Evans claims there is no such policy against samplers, just shoplifters. "People who put stuff in their pockets and walk out with it, we don't call that sampling," he says. "But somebody who tries a grape, there's no harm done." Evans adds that after the story ran, TV reporters called to do follow-up pieces, which didn't exactly thrill him. "I'm still kind of in disbelief as to what broadcast journalism finds interesting."
Still, banning Glionna's an awful lot of overkill there, Glen. Are you gonna ban us for writing this post now? Free John Glionna! Free the Berkeley Bowl, um, One!
Comments (6)
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Yes, its a fact Berkeley Bowl has become a factory of arrogance. It must come straight down from the owner who obviously thinks that because he has the most successful grocery store it gives him the right to ensure that people are treated with the top most disrespect and rude attitudes from the workers. Watch out for the cart pushers they will yell at you "we are closed" even if you are not intending to go in.
Shame on Glen Yasuda! Shame on the workers there! I have witnessed them!
May all their ears fall off !
Heres my story:
So its around 6:05PM and I am arriving to pick someone who is shopping there. I get out of the car and a guy yells "WE'RE CLOSED!" so I just ignore him as he was far enough away, he could have been yelling at someone else. So I walk across the parking lot and get almost to the front side walk and they guy yells directly at me "WE'RE CLOSED!!!" so I replay "THANKS FOR TELLING ME THAT,.. GLAD TO KNOW IT" and then he says "THEY'RE NOT GOING TO LET YOU IN!!!" in such a rude obnoxious way I had to retort "IM NOT TRYING TO GET IN THANK YOU!" than he says "YOU DONT HAVE TO GIVE ME THAT ATTITUDE" . haha .... HE was the one with the attitude.
okay thats fine , dont let one bad apple ruin the whole Berkeley Bowl experience right ? Well, not so fast. I get closer to the door and the ugly fat lady yells in my direction "WE"RE CLOSED" . Then the person who I was trying to pick up came out so we started to head back to the car when the ugly lady starts yelling at some people in their car "AND YOU ARE NOT WELCOME TO EVER COME BACK TO BERKELEY BOWL AGAIN!!!!"
God! Are these people kidding? Argent, Rude, Obnoxious, Horrible, Awful!
If you can avoid this place DO IT! I have had bad experiences here before. Once an old checker whom i've seen working there for the last 20 years (literally, I've been going here since 1987) gave me such attitude, it would make you sick. Hey I know all about Berkeley Bowl, I love the selection, but it seems to be getting worse. Maybe taking the extra drive to that one store on Marin in North Berkeley maybe worth it, they also have a nice selection of veggies.
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He was treated like a thief . . . because he IS a thief. I've seen people basically eat their lunch in the produce section. Thing is, we're all paying for the losses. Retailers pass on merchandise shrinkage costs to everyone.
Personally, if the security guards tried to stop me and force me to sign anything or if they tried to take my picture I'd walk off. If they actually detained me I'd file a police report for false imprisonment and press charges against the store.
The comments on Glionna's blog are priceless, both from those who hate and those who love the Berkeley Bowl.
Aggro my ass. Anyone who's shopped in New York or Jerusalem would find the Berkeley Bowl spacious and friendly. That writer from LA just played up the drama to get an interesting article.
I sample all the time there. There are wastebaskets left near the berries and peaches which are full of pits and half-eaten samples. If the bowl were engaged in the double secret bannination thing, there would be far fewer customers in there. This banned for life thing that the LA Times was writing about seems way off. If he was wrong about that, he's probably completely wrong about his own problem now.
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